Tech Trends: Will Solar Power Keep Our Gadgets Charged?

There’s a new Kindle case on the market that offers a unique twist on your run-of-the-mill boring eReader cases. This one is also a charger. The front cover has a solar panel that always keeps your Kindle charged. As an added bonus, it comes with a built-in reading light.

The cover is called that SolarKindle Cover. It retails for $79.99, which is not a bad price for something that has an unlimited power supply.

This is only the latest in a long line of solar powered recharging devices meant to keep all of our gadgets powered in an eco-friendly way. What I find interesting is that solar recharging hasn’t caught on like it should. After all, we are talking about helping the environment here.

I’m guessing this will change over the next decade. Aside from being more environmentally friendly, solar powered chargers offer on-demand power when you need, where you need it.

How many times have you found yourself needing to charge an eReader, computer, tablet or whatever, but couldn’t find an outlet, or you were in a car/airplane/bus where recharging is nearly impossible. I’ve seen many people sitting on the floor in strange places at the airport just so they can plug their laptop in.

I think the biggest argument against solar powered chargers is that you need a lot of light to keep it powered. This is not entirely true. The SolarKindle Cover, for example, is continually charging whether your are in direct sunlight or shade. I’ve seen other chargers that will stay juiced even inside – drawing on whatever light there is.

Over the next decade, solar energy technology is bound to keep evolving and improving. Solar power will become cheaper and solar panels will become more sensitive, being able to charge in even the dimmest light.

While solar power hasn’t caught on at the large, power-an-entire-city level, the smaller technology like eReader covers will gain more momentum.

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